The U.S. Navy has awarded BAE Systems a $50 million contract
option to upgrade four additional Mk 45 Naval Guns on guided
missile destroyers (DDG 51s), converting the guns to a fully-digital
Mod 4 configuration. The option, exercised under an initial
2015 award, brings the full value of the contract to $130
million for a total of 10 modernized gun systems.

Australia's Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne
and the Minister for Defence Industry, The Hon Christopher
Pyne MP announced that Lockheed Martin Australia has been
selected as the preferred Combat System Integrator for Australia’s
Future Submarine Program, subject to further discussion on
commercial matters.

The Mexican Navy yesterday took delivery of the first of the
ten AS565 MBe Panther helicopters it purchased in 2014, becoming
the first customer in the world to receive the new version
of this multi-role, medium-class military rotorcraft. The
Navy will receive three other units before the end of the
year and the remaining six by early 2018.

Rear
Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, Chief of the Nigerian Navy, was
at the China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Company
(CSOC)'s Wuchang Shipyard in Wuhan, China in early September
to receive the second P18N offshore patrol vessel (OPV). CSOC
is part of the part of the State Shipbuilding Corporation,
China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC).

The UK Ministry of Defence has signed a licence agreement
with ASV Global allowing for the use of its Advanced Unmanned
Surface Vehicle (USV) Capability technology. The contract
has been signed through Ploughshare Innovations, the technology
transfer arm of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
(Dstl).

The "Wildcards" of U.S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat
Squadron (HSC) 23 made history Sept. 14 when they used a MQ-8B
unmanned air system as a laser designator platform for a MH-60S
Seahawk helicopter to fire a AGM-114N Hellfire missile.

Lockheed
Martin Launches Vector Hawk UAV from Marlin UUV for the First Time

In a testament to the versatility and adaptability that its
unmanned systems bring to complex missions, Lockheed Martin
successfully launched Vector Hawk, a small, unmanned aerial
vehicle (UAV), on command from the Marlin MK2 autonomous underwater
vehicle (AUV) during a cross-domain command and control event
hosted by the U.S. Navy. In addition to Marlin and Vector
Hawk, the Submaran, an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) developed
by Ocean Aero, provided surface reconnaissance and surveillance.

First
Rafale M Flight for French Navy 17F Airwing Following SEM Decommissioning

The
first flight of a Rafale M multi-role fighter belonging to
the French Navy (Marine Nationale) fighter airwing 17F took
place on September 19 2016 at the Landivisiau naval air base.
The event follows the decommissioning of the Super Etandard
Modernisé or SEM on July 12th.

Sailors
from Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5) fired the newest Joint
Standoff Weapon, JSOW C-1, Sept. 13 during Valiant Shield
exercise conducted in the Western Pacific. Valiant Shield
is the first time the fleet conducted an operational end-to-end
employment of a network enabled weapon, using both live rounds
and captive air training missiles during the exercise.

The
Project 12700 Alexandrit-class lead mine sweeper Alexander
Obukhov currently under construction for the Navy at the Sredne-Nevsky
Shipyard in St. Petersburg in northwest Russia has started
undergoing state trials, the shipyard’s press office
said.

Boeing
Rolls-Out the First Australian P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft

The first of twelve Australian P-8A Poseidon aircraft has
been unveiled by Boeing at a roll-out ceremony in Seattle,
Washington State, USA on September 27. Chief of Air Force,
Air Marshal Leo Davies, attended the ceremony and accepted
into service the Royal Australian Air Force’s newest
aircraft.

DCNS:
Sea Trials for the Sixth FREMM multi-mission frigate, the Future Auvergne
for the French Navy

DCNS announced that he French Navy (Marine Nationale)’s
FREMM multi-mission frigate Auvergne set sail from
the Lorient naval shipyard to begin sea trials on September
26th. The FREMM Auvergne is the sixth frigate in
the programme and fourth of the series ordered by OCCAr on
behalf of the DGA (the French defence procurement agency)
for the French Navy.

French
Navy Received the "Bougainville" Second of Four B2M Multi
Mission Vessels

The Bougainville multi-mission vessel was delivered to the
French Navy (Marine Nationale) on September 22 2016. It is
the second B2M (for bâtiment multi-missions) vessel
intended for the overseas missions of sovereignty. Bougainville
will soon join its home port of Tahiti in the Pacific. First
ship of the class D'Entrecasteaux recently joined its home
port of Noumea in New Caledonia.

The
Project 11435 aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov will join
the Russian Navy’s grouping in the eastern part of the
Mediterranean Sea, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said. "As
of today, Russia’s grouping in the eastern part of the
Mediterranean Sea comprises no less than six warships and
three or four logistic support ships from all fleets,"
Shoigu said at a meeting of the Defense Ministry’s board.

The
newest Project 955 'Vladimir Monomakh' (NATO reporting name:
Dolgorukiy-class/Borei-class) nuclear-powered boat armed with
submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SSBN) has finished
the transition from the North Fleet to the Pacific Fleet and
arrived at its home base, Vilyuchinsk (Kamchatka Krai), according
to the press department of Russia`s Ministry of Defense (MoD).

Spotters
photos taken in Dalian yesterday show that the second Chinese
aircraft carrier, the Type 001A, has received its island.
This is another step towards the lauch of the vessel expected
to happen by early 2017.

Saab Defense and Security USA has received an order from the
U.S. Navy to provide the AN/SPN-50 (V)1 Shipboard Air Traffic
Radar. The first award for the Engineering and Manufacturing
Development (EMD) phase of the program includes the initial
procurement of three radars over a four-year period.

U.S.
Navy Approves MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System for Low Rate Initial
Production

The United States Department of the Navy announced the MQ-4C
Triton Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) received milestone C
approval, Sept. 22. This decision by Under Secretary of Defense
for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) Honorable
Frank Kendall, allows the MQ-4C Triton program to enter into
Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP), the first part of the
production and deployment phase.

First
Royal Australian Navy Air Warfare Destroyer Hobart successfully
completes Builder Sea Trials

Today, the Air Warfare Destroyer Alliance achieved a major
milestone with the successful completion of Builder Sea Trials
for the first destroyer Hobart following several days at sea
off the coast of South Australia. AWD Alliance General Manager
Lloyd Beckett said that sea trials was the commencement of
an exciting new phase for the Air Warfare Destroyer project.

Russian
defense contractor Baltic Shipyard - Shipbuilding (a subsidiary
of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC) has completed
the installation of the RITM-200 reactor system, having equipped
the lead ship of the Project 22220 icebreaker family with
the second of the two steam generator units, according to
USC’s press office.

ECA
Group announces the delivery of several fully robotized underwater
mine counter measure systems since the beginning of the year
to two navies, Kazakhstan being one of them. They are the
first unmanned mine counter measure systems ever manufactured.
These highly innovative systems are a breakthrough in the
underwater mine counter measures market.

The
U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS
Ross (DDG 71) will participate to the escort of
French Navy (Marine Nationale) aircraft carrier Charles
de Gaulle strike group (CSG). The destroyer joined the
French Naval Base of Toulon on September 13th. The French
CSG is currently conducting an exercise off the French coasts
(named Gabian) and is likely to become operational against
Daesh in a matther of days.

On September 20 2016, Admiral Wim Robberecht will be appointed
as the new Commander of the Marine Component of the Belgian
Armed Forces (Commandant de la composante Marine) during a
ceremony at the Zeebrugge naval base. Admiral Robberecht succeeds
to Admiral Georges Heeren. The ceremony will be attended by
Belgian Minister of Defence Mr. Steven Vandeput and by the
Belgian Chief of Defence (Chief of Joint Staff) General Compernol.